Fixation 101

It was really hard leaving yesterday to come back to Georgia. Cheryl and I celebrated our 6th anniversary over the weekend. Wow, can you believe it? Six years and she still puts up with me. And in spite of the long distance marriage I've forced on us, she's managed to find the strength to be an encouragement to me when I am able to make it home. You all knew it would take someone special and it does.

It was 5:30am when the alarm started nudging me back to consciousness. I fought it like hell - at least until 5:45 when my better judgement took over and reminded me that I shouldn't run late to something I want to do - and flying ranks up there with the likes of golf and fishing. So I crawled off the futon and began getting ready. When I walked out to leave, I noticed something I've rarely seen in my life - a sunrise. Now, I saw a few in college with my good buddies Fern and Caleb at the end of great evening, but nowadays, most sunrises start without me. So I hopped in the dew-covered Focus, impressed that I might be normal and headed off to the airport. I even carefully selected appropriate music as not to ruin this beautiful moment I'd stumbled on. Then, about ten minutes into the drive my cell phone rings. I look at the caller id and see that it's my instructor. 'Uh oh,' I think. She informs me that the weather is below minimums for flight and that we have to postpone our flight until later this afternoon. Just like the needle skidding off a vinyl record and the ensuing screech, all of my morning majesty halted in an instant. All of a sudden my attitude morphed into 'I got my ass out of bed while it was still dark for nothing!' What I had failed to notice in all of the pride I had for getting up was that the car was indeed covered in dew, that I had to turn my fog lights on, and that, still, I could hardly make out the road I was driving on for all the fog. My 'beautiful moment' clouded my ability to make the connection that poor driving conditions might mean poor flying conditions too. But I have to admit. It was not in vain. This sunrise did not start without me; and now it was right in front of me as I drove back east to the barn. I also learned an interesting lesson. As I 'fixated' on the morning unfolding in front of me, I neglected to notice some of those other important things aforementioned. Now, you've waited patiently for the point. As I sat in class tonight after a long day, the instructor began talking about 'fixation' in the cockpit. It's deadly. Fixating on one situation, gauge, etc. can cause a pilot to neglect some other very important things. And history and its statistics have proven that it has and will kill. Is there irony here in what I experienced this morning and what the instructor came tonight prepared to speak about? I don't think it's irony at all.

Now, I'm here for several reasons - but none more important than the fact that I'm supposed to be. This seems to be constantly evidenced in the lessons I'm learning - and not in the ones being presented in class. God has His way of showing that He's very much a part of this whole learning experience - even when I fail to notice.